Johnson: Stamps need to go to Joe

George Johnson, Calgary Herald08.22.2014

Stampeders receiver Joe West, right, hopes to be the target of offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson Sunday when Calgary faces the Ottawa RedBlacks. With Jeff Fuller on the shelf, West could be the go-to guy in the receiving corps.

If an impossibly young, slingshot-armed, cow-licked Bo Levi Mitchell was paying attention during history class down south in Katy, Texas, a decade or so ago, he might’ve heard of famed 19th-century newspaper editor/Liberal Republican Party founder/social activist/reformer Horace Greeley and his most enduring quote:

“Go (to) West, young man!”

No Mo? No Jeff Fuller?

What better time?

Hitch your wagon-train to No. 85 and point the compass due east with West in mind, Bo.

As Maurice Price recovers fully from a broken finger and Fuller silently curses the dislocated shoulder suffered a week ago in Hamilton, the Calgary Stampeders’ receiving focus outside (inside being the property of Marquay McDaniel and Nik Lewis, naturally) shifts to Joe West.

“I think there’s a lot more in me,” says West, who must see Sunday’s date against the Ottawa RedBlacks as a launching pad. “The opportunities are going to come but I can’t dictate them, I can’t force them.

“As long as I continue to show up, do my job, put myself in position, and our offence as unit puts itself in position, that’s fine by me.’’

In conversation, Joe West gives the impression of being a laid-back, take-what-may-come kinda guy. Next to him, Perry Como might seem positively Ozzy Osbourne-ish.

“We’ve seen flashes,” is how receivers coach Pete Costanza describes West’s two years and change down at McMahon.

One of those, the latest, a bolt of lightning out of the murky Steeltown sky, that 74-yard pass-and-run play, Mitchell to West, that set the Stamps up for 17-7 halftime lead against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last weekend.

“It felt … good,” said West in that soft, singsong voice of his. “I can’t lie. I wish I’d gotten into the end zone. But it did open up a small door for Jeff to get a touchdown. And that’s just as good.

“It’s been a while. I just love to entertain. Any time I get the chance to go against someone who’s challenging me, yeah, I believe I can make something happen.”

More and more, we live in a stats-driven world, of course. And if Joe West’s northern numbers could so far be described as modest, the skill-set is most decidedly not.

His evolution after a 24-catch rookie season has certainly been a stop-start-stop affair, though, halted abruptly by a nine-game stint on IR a year ago due to a wonky shoulder. One game back and then out owing to more problems with the same pin.

Then, as if to remind everyone that had perhaps forgotten the potential involved, in the West final against Saskatchewan latching onto three passes for 101 yards, tops for the vanquished Stamps.

“People put the spotlight on Joe because he had a couple games with big catches,” Costanza said. “But you can be doing your job and not putting up big numbers.

“When we watch games, dissect them, he’s running the right routes, he’s getting open. But a lot of times people on the outside looking in don’t factor in that the quarterback is going through his reads. A lot of the time it’s about luck or chance.

“In the past when Joe’s played, going back to last year, he’s shown the ability to make big plays. You saw it again the other day in Hamilton.”

So if the man’s doing the right things but not getting the looks, the touches, soaking up the accolades, there’s the very understandable, very human tendency to wonder what on earth gives.

“I suppose it could be frustrating,” said West. “But as long as I’ve been playing this game, I’ve never worried about personal stats. Really. It doesn’t matter what guys are on the field or who makes the catches. As long as we as a group make enough catches.”

Sweet music to the ears of any receivers coach. Particularly one blessed with as many top-flight ball-grabbers as the Stampeders.

“Our receivers, thank God, know there’s only one ball,” said Costanza with a sigh. “All five of them can’t catch it on the same play. But they also realize that their collective success is more important than personal success.

“This is a great group. They all really pull for each other. And Joe’s a part of it.

“You’ve seen him back in the offence the last couple of weeks, in his normal position, so I think you’ll see him, more and more, continually making plays and building on that.

“He’s obviously a very talented, explosive talent.

“One guy’s down, the next guy’s up and he’s gotta make plays, right?”

That next guy just happens to be Joe West.

So Bo, do yourself a favour. No Mo? No Fuller? Take Horace Greeley’s advice.

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